How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
“I shall not die of a cough.”
“True – true,” I replied.” (37-38)
Montresor is always joking about death. And he makes is almost seem funny, until the end. Poe uses “dark” humor to lighten up the story.
Quote #2
“I drink,” he said, “to the buried that repose around us.”
“And I to your long life.” (42, 43)
This is an example of “dramatic irony.” We know something that one or more of the characters don’t. Montresor’s toast to Fortunato’s “long life” lets the reader know that Fortunato might die. The only person who doesn’t get the joke is Fortunato.
Quote #3
Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris. (68)
This line reminds us that different cultures deal with death in different ways. Catacombs were an art form. What might be gross and scary to one culture can be beautiful and natural to another.